Cleveland Nips Bradley For Region 4-AA Mat Title

Baylor Rolls To D-II-East Title With Nine Champions And 14 Qualifiers For State

Saturday, February 12, 2022
John Hunt

There are certain athletic events that are predictable, such as the Region 3-AA wrestling tournament at Walker Valley and the Division II-East regional at Baylor.

It was a battle from start to finish at Walker Valley on Saturday where Cleveland claimed another region title with 233 points, just beating runner-up Bradley with 225. Third-place Rhea County was way on down the line with 93 points.

The Baylor Red Raiders have been the most dominant team in the private-school division for a number of years, proven by last Saturday’s State Duals title, Baylor’s fourth straight.

They appear to be headed toward another traditional title next weekend at Montgomery Bell Academy after winning their region in their own gym Saturday with 300 points.

MBA was a distant second with 173 points while Lakeway Christian was third with 148. McCallie and Boyd Buchanan were fourth and fifth with 113 and 111 points, respectively.

Cleveland and Bradley will both be taking 13 individuals to their Sectional tournament, which will be in Murfreesboro next Saturday at Oakland High School.

Cleveland’s big difference at Walker Valley was the fact the Blue Raiders had eight individual champs to only four for Bradley.

Cleveland’s winners included Chase Walker (106), Bentley Ellison (120), Arlo Laxton (132), Cy Fowler (152), Lucas Szymborski (160), Jax Ernest (170), Tetoe Boyd (195) and Ashton Davis (285).

Bradley’s winners included Bryson Terrell at 113, Easton Lipsey at 126, Ethan Lipsey at 138 and Luke Belcher at 145.

Other individual winners included McMinn County’s Austin Cooley at 182 and Howard’s Jermichael Young at 220.

While Cleveland had eight winners, four other Blue Raiders finished second and one in fourth while Bradley had seven in second place and two in third.

Cleveland’s other medalists included Zac Bosken at 113, Logan Fowler at 126, Blake Randall at 138 and Hagen Cooper at 145 as runners-up while Jared Canales was fourth at 220.

Bradley’s second-place finishers included Miguel Rincon at 106, Wyatt James at 120, Tyee Crisp at 132, Carson Parker at 152, Wade Brooks at 160, Jake Fox at 182 and Austin McClure at 285 while Knox Watson (170) and Jaylen Thomas (220) both finished third.

Bradley coach Ben Smith knows that his Bears are closing the gap between his team and Cleveland, but they didn’t score points to win on Saturday.

“We had a pretty good day today,” Smith said following the tournament.

“We didn’t advance all 14 like we had hoped, but we got 13 and I’m really proud of that as my kids wrestled really hard today. We haven’t peaked yet, but we just have to find a way to win a few more against Cleveland. We might need some help from other teams, but we’re not counting on that.

“There were no upsets to speak of today, but we have 13 who have a chance to score next weekend with hopes of advancing to Franklin. But today went about as expected,” Smith added.

Baylor’s dominance continued in their East region on Saturday where they advanced a dozen young men to the finals and emerged with nine champions and three seconds. They also had one who was third and another in fourth as all 14 qualified for next weekend’s big meet at MBA.

Coach Rex Kendle has a veteran lineup with lots of experience, including five guys who are defending state champs and three who will be shooting for their fourth state title.

“We had a really good day today as we put 12 in the finals and finished with nine winners. We did a really good job all across the board and the first time in a long time for us to qualify all 14 individuals,” Kendle said later.

“These guys took care of business as they appear to be on a mission, but we have two guys who just got into our starting lineup this week who advanced, so I’m really proud of them,” he said in reference to Odin Phillips, who had been a JV guy for the past two years, and Dylan Crawford, who stepped up at 285 in place of injured Brycen Sanders.

“Mason Alley beat a really good kid from Lakeway Christian at 160 and Michael Kinsey beat a kid from Boyd Buchanan that he had lost to two weeks ago, so I was really happy for them too,” the Baylor coach nodded.

Baylor had nine champions while Lakeway Christian had three. MBA and McCallie had one each.

Baylor’s winners included Jacob Bond (106), Nick Cordey (113), Jackson Bond (126), Garrison Dendy (138), Ryan Tisdale (152), Alley (160), Kinsey (170), Omaury Alvarez (182) and David Harper at 195.

Lakeway’s three winners included Cameron Helton at 120, Keyveon Roller at 132 and Brayden Ivy at 145 while MBA’s Gabe Fisher was the winner at 220 and McCallie’s James Howard at 285.

Baylor also got second-place finishes from Judson Jarrett at 120, Nate Askew at 132 and Gunnar Garriques at 220 while Phillips was third at 145 and Crawford fourth at 285.

MBA had eight qualifiers while Lakeway had seven.

Boyd Buchanan has five and McCallie four while Chattanooga Christian has five and Notre Dame two.

DIVISION II-EAST LEGEND AND FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Baylor (Bay) 300; 2. Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) 173; 3. Lakeway Christian (LC) 148; 4. McCallie (McC) 113; 5. Boyd Buchanan (BB) 111; 6. Chattanooga Christian (CCS) 104; 7. Friendship Christian (FC) 68; 8. Knoxville Grace (KG) 59.5; 9. Knoxville Webb (KW) 55.5; 10. Notre Dame (ND) 55; 11. Knoxville Catholic (KC) 23; 12. Christian Academy of Knoxville (CAK) 19; 13. Silverdale (Sil) 9; St. Andrew’s-Sewanee and Donelson Christian failed to score.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

106 – Jacob Bond (Bay) pinned Cole Gumlick (LC), 1:23;

113 – Nick Cordey (Bay) pinned Hudson Frazier (MBA), :35;

120 – Cameron Helton (LC) dec. Judson Jarrett (Bay), 6-4;

126 – Jackson Bond (Bay) major dec. Luke Braman (ND), 17-5;

132 – Keyveon Roller (LC) major dec. Nate Askew (Bay), 15-2;

138 – Garrison Dendy (Bay) pinned Conor Payne (BB), 2:44;

145 – Brayden Ivy (LC) dec. Mac Russ (MBA), 6-4 in overtime;

152 – Ryan Tisdale (Bay) dec. Chase Eakes (FC), 4-0;

160 – Mason Alley (Bay) dec. Colby Dalon (LC), 7-4;

170 – Michael Kinsey (Bay) dec. Austin Johnson (BB), 7-4;

182 – Omaury Alvarez (Bay) pinned Ben Bumgarner (CCS), 1:40;

195 – David Harper (Bay) pinned Ja’Von McMahan (McC), 1:06;

220 – Gabe Fisher (MBA) won by forfeit over Gunnar Garriques (Bay);

285 – James Howard (McC) won by injury default over Max Fisher (MBA).

CONSOLATION FINALS FOR THIRD PLACE

106 – Nolen Hardman (BB) pinned Josh Tan (MBA), 4:27;

113 – Malachi Pucket (BB) pinned Carson Haney (McC), :51;

120 – Adam Jolly (CCS) pinned Nate Cooper (GC), 1:29;

126 – Carter Rowlett (BB) dec. Callen Bridgman (CCS), 4-2;

132 – Evan Rominger (CCS) pinned Brady Lawson (ND), 5:00;

138 – Tyson Wolcott (FC) won by injury default over Caleb Gumlick (LC);

145 – Odin Phillips (Bay) dec. Nick Krauss (GC), 7-4 in overtime;

152 – Jalen Hill (KW) pinned Jay Eversole (LC), 2:10;

160 – Ryan Comfort (KG) dec. Sheridan Kyle (CCS), 7-0;

170 – Matthew Hyde (MBA) pinned Eli Etherton (CAK), 1:42;

182 – Dominic Vance (KW) dec. Browning Trainer (MBA), 7-5;

195 – Johnothon Moore (MBA) dec. James Davenport (FC), 2-0;

220 – Carson Gentle (McC) dec. Leonardo Bonifacio (KW), 9-7;

285 – Devin Lively (KC) dec. Dylan Crawford (Bay), 4-1.

REGION 3-AA LEGEND AND FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Cleveland (Clev) 233; 2. Bradley (Brad) 225; 3. Rhea County (RC) 93; 4. Walker Valley (WV) 91; 5. Howard (How) 73; 6. McMinn County (MC) 58; 7. Ooltewah (O) 47.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

106 – Chase Walker (Clev) pinned Miguel Rincon (Brad), 2:59;

113 – Bryson Terrell (Brad) pinned Zac Bosken (Clev), 1:57;

120 – Bentley Ellison (Clev) major dec. Wyatt James (Brad), 12-4;

126 – Easton Lipsey (Brad) dec. Logan Fowler (Clev), 5-3;

132 – Arlo Laxton (Clev) won by technical fall over Tyee Crisp (Brad), 5:24;

138 – Ethan Lipsey (Brad) won by forfeit over Blake Randall (Clev);

145 – Luke Belcher (Brad) won by forfeit over Hagen Cooper (Clev);

152 – Cy Fowler (Clev) dec. Carson Parker (Brad), 3-1;

160 – Lucas Szymborski (Clev) major dec. Wade Brooks (Brad), 10-2;

170 – Jax Ernest (Clev) dec. Francisco Molina (RC), 4-2;

182 – Austin Cooley (MC) pinned Jake Fox (Brad), 1:53;